Army Helicopter Maker Sued In Fatal Georgia Crash

A lawsuit has been filed arising out of the crash of an Army helicopter on Jan. 16. It’s alleged in the suit that a tiny missing part caused the helicopter to spin out of control and crash during a training flight in Georgia, killing the co-pilot and seriously injuring two crew members. The lawsuit blames the manufacturer of the MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., and others that make its components for the crash at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah.

The mother of Capt. Clayton O. Carpenter, who died, and the two injured crew members are Plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The crew belonged to the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. According to Timothy Loranger, a lawyer with Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, PC, who represents the Plaintiffs, a missing safety cotter pin caused a malfunction in the helicopter’s tail rotor.